Time Travel Troubles
by Adele Starminster
Summary: Meet Marissa, a loner w a perfect twin, her best friend, and a very dumb blonde. Short chapter, sorry!
1. a dumb blonde makes a big mistake

Marissa/Eliza Chapter one: Dumb Blondes and other major mishaps  
  
A/N: I got the idea for this at 12:30 AM one weekend, and it won't leave me alone! So here it goes.  
  
Quick details: Marissa will start it, Liz will end each chapter, k? Suggestions (in the form of reviews) will help!  
  
Disclaimer: I own all characters in this chapter.  
  
Marissa's POV  
  
I raced down the hall of the school, with bare seconds left to get to science. Why is there only five minutes to get to class, you can't dodge (deleted) AND go half way across the school in that much time, I thought angrily. The "cool" crowd, excepting my twin, Eliza, and her friend Marianna, thought annoying the loner was FUN! This is proof that being spoiled can damage you brain. I dashed in the classroom, ignoring the glares of Crystin, the ex-head cheerleader. I glared back, and sat down next to my lab partner and twin, Elizabeth Charcoal, Eliza for short.  
  
Most people wouldn't even realize that we're related, much less twins, because we are so different, and we are called fraternal twins.  
  
Here is some statistics: Hair: Me (Marissa) Dark brown curls cut to my shoulders.  
Eliza: Waist length blonde waves. Eyes: The only thing we have in common, they are a dark jade green with no specks, just metallic rims. Height: Me: 5'10, I'm the taller twin, also one of the tallest kids in the eighth grade.  
Eliza: 5' 0" she is the shortest girl in the grade.  
  
Favorite CD: Me: Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill  
Eliza: Celine Dion's A New Day Favorite Book: Me: Mysteries, especially Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes  
Eliza: Any fantasy  
  
Best Friend (aside from each other, at times):  
Me: Melinda Cassiopa (my only other friend)  
Eliza: Marianna Sanchez (sweet, but not all there) Nicknames: Me: Miss Practical, not going to mention other ones Eliza: Eternal Optimist, Pixie So you see how different we are? Anyway, the worst/weirdest science class of my life was about to begin.  
  
Eliza's POV  
  
"All right class, we are starting the BIG lab today, and we will be working in groups of five." Miss Dawson began.  
  
"What do you think the Frizz will make us do?" Marissa asked me, using a short version of Miss Frizzle, our science teacher's nickname. She has frizzy red hair and the weirdest outfits, and was intense about science.  
  
"We'll see," I whispered back, "It'll probably be cool."  
  
Marissa muttered something about optimists and blondes. I sighed.  
  
"We will be experimenting with different chemicals today," the teacher continued. "The groups are this Emily, Crystin, Karen, Allison, Madison." We waited patiently for our group. "Marissa, Elizabeth, Melinda, Mariana, and. Salina." Marissa tensed up.  
  
"Oh, no." Marisa was upset for good reasons. Salina did not like Melinda and Marissa because they broke up a cheating ring for the school paper, and Salina and Crystin were in it, and got kicked off the cheerleading team. I replaced Crystin as head cheerleader, too. Also, Salina was NOT good at science. She once mixed chemicals that caused an explosion. She, in Marissa's words, "is a textbook example of severe dumb blonde."  
  
We moved to Melinda's table warily.  
  
"Let's get this over with," Salina said wearily. Melinda set up the tubes. I read the directions. We finished, miraculously, with no mishaps, and several minutes left.  
  
"Hey," Salina said happily, "We have a couple minutes left, and extra test tubes, why don't we try some other combinations?"  
  
"I don't know," Marissa said warily.  
  
"Yeah, let's study for the Math test tomorrow," Melinda said nervously.  
  
Salina didn't listen, she reached for two silver canisters. One read liquid manganese, the other liquid titanium. I gulped.  
  
"The Frizz will kill us if she sees you doing that! That was the first thing she told us NOT to do!" I whispered urgently.  
  
"So?" she said wickedly. She poured in three drops of the titanium. The world rippled and faded. The last thing I heard was the Frizz.  
  
"I specifically said DO NOT MIX UP AN ALLOY OF TITANIUM AND MAGANESE!"  
  
A/N: Do you like it? Please tell me in a review. I will try for a chapter a week, but I have other stories I have to write, so maybe every other week. We'll see. This only took a half hour to write. 


	2. we have a cocert and I push a dumb blond...

Chapter 2: Complications arise in many forms  
  
A/N: Not a half hour after I uploaded the first chapter, I start the second. Jeez, I am really bored!  
Disclaimer: I own only Marissa, Eliza, Melinda, Marianna and Salina. All others belong to Tamora Pierce. The songs belong to their respected owners.  
  
Marissa's POV  
When I opened my eyes, I thought, This is why I hate roller coasters. I looked around. We were in a woods, obviously, and the explosion (there must have been one) had knocked me the nearby woods. Except something was odd.  
  
I could not hear cars.  
  
The woods by the school were fairly small, and it was about noon, and yet no cars. Something was very wrong.  
  
Eliza! I forgot about her, and Melinda and Marianna. I didn't care about Salina, she could be dead for all I care. Eliza was on a small tree, with only minor bruises. She was waking up. Mariana fell on a bunch of dead leaves, and Melinda was winded, having fallen on a branch. I looked up to see a sight that was so funny I couldn't help cracking up. Saline's short, tight skirt was caught on a branch up near the top of a tree, and her bright green underwear was showing.  
  
"I didn't know lighthouse beacons were green!" I called up.  
  
"SHUT UP YOU." She then called me names I know she didn't learn at church.  
  
"Temper, Temper," I mock-chided.  
  
"Just get me down!" She said angrily.  
  
"Now why would I do that?" I teased. I sighed. "Fine." I climbed up, glad that I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved top. I carefully put my black sweater on top of a bush, shivering with cold. I wondered why on earth people would wear that sort of clothing in December. I climbed up slowly, grateful for the low branches and the small pond she was directly over. I got to the branch and slowly snapped it in half. She tumbled into the pond with a satisfying THWACK! on her (deleted) I quickly climbed down to survey the damage. Her skirt was now semi sheer in the front, and muddy on the back. Her turquoise sandals were lumpy and brown. There was nothing like the satisfaction of a job REALLY well done.  
  
It was a half hour later. I sighed. "What are we going to do?" We had been waiting there in the clearing. I had crackers, so we nibbled on those. I double checked what we had. Our school shoulder bags, which we were required to have at all times, and my violin case.  
  
"How 'bout we sing?" Salina suggested. I grinned.  
  
"Yeah, Melinda is an EXCELLENT singer," I said cheerfully. Mel sighed, used to my "annoying" complements, and my "stubbornness", to which I say, THAT'S HER, NOT ME!  
  
"What song?" She asked.  
  
"Do you know 'Its About Time'?" Marianna asked.  
  
"I hate you,  
I love you,"  
  
"Do you know 'Stacey's Mom'?" Salina asked when she finished. When I groaned, she started to sing, and all living things got out of earshot. I grabbed my violin.  
  
"Do you guys know 'Not the Doctor'? Now, behave, it took a month to complete it without mistakes!" I love that song, it is fast and slow at once at parts, and difficult to play, since it was meant for guitars. I checked that the midnight blue velvet interior was intact. I had been saving for a really good violin to replace my dad's beat up old one since I turned nine. I had nine hundred sixty dollars, and refused to spend a cent of it. I had to be able to be broke, because the one I wanted was two thousand dollars. I was lucky, I got three hundred a year total, without including various gifts of money.  
  
Eliza's POV  
  
While Marissa was playing, I thought I heard someone walking behind me. I ignored it. All of a sudden, people walked into the clearing. Then I knew that Salina's "experiment" went really, really wrong.  
  
A/N: Cliffhanger? Yup. How long will it take for the next chapter? Two weeks, but every review makes it one day less. This will give me time to get more chapters done. Also, I will get chapter three or four done when The Amber Spyglass gets back to my library next week (Monday/Tuesday, It's been three weeks about then.). I go every day to look for it. See ya!  
  
PS- Was I too mean to Salina? TELL ME! Or I'll kill one of the characters 


	3. A: Heavy Books can be useful in a fight

Ch 3: Explanations and Heavy Books  
  
A/N: This story is really keeping me busy! But I'm doing pretty good on it, I think. Anyways, my family is switching bedrooms so there is more room, so now I'm going to have a tiny bedroom three steps wide, ten long, instead of ten across and long! (Deleted) But to get to the point, I will be very busy, and won't be able to write long chapters for a while. So I will put out chapter three in bits. Sorry!  
  
Marissa  
  
I blinked my eyes when the song was finished, not believing what I saw. A handful of people were around the area, most had weapons aimed at us, and didn't look too happy to see us. I gulped. (Deleted), why didn't I pay attention, I thought angrily. I opened my backpack and drew out my hardcover edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes collection, one of the only things that would have an effect without me getting to close. I threw it as hard as I could to the person closest to me. When the ten pound book hit his head, he looked very dazed.  
  
I turned around to see another person right behind me. I sighed and used my math book. Again, only dazed. I was running out of books. Melinda was also using textbooks, but only on the people with weapons. I realized too late that the person I hit first had no weapons. Why, I wondered. I also noticed that there was not a single gun on any of them. I was so preoccupied I didn't realize that someone had snuck up behind me.  
  
"Don't move."  
  
A/N: Sorry again for the length! I'll update some of Eliza's bit ASAP! 


	4. B:Specters are very unpleasant

Time Travel Troubles  
Chapter four: The Specters of Indifference  
  
A/N: Part of this short chapter will be in another POV. Okay the beds got lost, and came today soaking wet on the bottom! Jeez!  
  
Dis: The song bit, and the semi-comical Sanderson sisters are from Hocus Pocus! Specters- P. Pullman.  
  
Abby's mom's POV A small town by the usual setting  
  
Six year old Abigail ran after her best friend Addie. The two friends were playing Tag, and were having fun. Abby's mom was watching. Suddenly, a scream came from a nearby house. Addie's house.  
  
Abby's mother noticed a shimmering white shape touch her husband. When the thing left, he fell to his knees, his eyes blank. She realized the.. thing was coming after her, and ran, calling for Abby and Addie, knowing Addie's mother, a widow, had met the same fate as her husband.  
  
She would never forgive herself if the children would die. She didn't know her husband and Addie's mother were, in a twisted, wrong, sick way, alive.  
  
The two girls, who could not see the thing, ran after her, curious. Abby's mother was a fast runner, and had to stop twice so the girls could catch up. She didn't notice the thing following her. Soon she came upon the group in the clearing.  
  
Eliza's POV  
  
The "disagreement" with the group that had come came to an abrupt halt when I noticed a brunette with two children running toward us. And, if I was right, a Specter on her tail. I shuddered at what would happen if the Specter got an adult.  
  
"Get up in the trees to save your life!" I yelled. Annoying as these people were getting, I didn't want them "dead in life", soulless. A few looked at the group running towards us and listened. Marissa and the others did too, confused.  
  
"Specters are unable to see you up there! And if you don't, you will REALLY regret it."  
  
All but one of the other group listened. From the perch on the tree I sadly watched the guy's soul be destroyed.  
  
"Eliza, what's going on?" Marissa hissed, terrified.  
  
"Specters, I think."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The Specters of Indifference is the formal name. They. well, they eat your soul, kinda."  
  
"But those kids! They're right in front of it!"  
  
"To quote The Subtle Knife, 'Something in the innocence of children repels the Specters of Indifference.' End quote. They're safe." For a few years, anyway. I added silently.  
  
"The mom?"  
  
"She's halfway up the tree."  
  
"And us?"  
  
"Specters can't fly," I lied. But a human had to make them do it, so it was only a little one. I hoped.  
  
"Where are we?"  
  
"Specters are from Cittágazze in the His Dark Materials books, but otherwise this seems like a Tamara Pierce book."  
  
"I am a little confused, but as long as they don't hurt my violin case, I will stay up here and not kick Specter (deleted)."  
  
"Marissa?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You are WAY too obsessed with that violin."  
  
"Oh. You really think so?"  
  
"Yes, yes I do."  
  
The I heard music. And became very, very confused.  
  
"Come Little Children,  
I'll take you away,  
Off to a land of enchantment."  
  
The Sanderson sisters? Oh, god, PLEASE let this be a bad dream, PLEASE!  
  
But it wasn't the Sanderson sisters. It was something much, much worse. Something that made me wish it WAS the life sucking Sanderson sisters, who were kinda funny, at least. And gullible. Very gullible.  
  
"Sirens? This is a REALLY odd dream." At least, I hope it is. Cuz if not, we're all very dead. VERY dead. 


	5. The Plan

Ch 5: Sirens are very vain and blondes can be useful  
A/N: Alright, lets get to explanations here, including discriptions.  
  
Marissa Charcoal- 13/14, dark brown hair cut to her shoulders, green eyes,loves violins, Alanis Morsette, No Doubt, Celine Dion, and soccer. She helped her best friend Melinda uncover a cheating ring for the school paper, and is not liked by the popular crowd because four cheerleaders were kicked off. Is 5'10''. She is a major Sherlock Holmes fan and is just as smart. (Except she knows the Earth revolves around the Sun) Trademark line: Elementary, my dear Eliza.  
  
Eliza Charcoal- Marissa's twin, she is 5 ft flat, has waist length blonde hair, green eyes and is the head of the cheerleading squad. She loves fantasy books, and is the person who has a good idea of what is happening. Likes Celine Dion, Jump5, etc. She is an optimist, but can face facts. She has occasional bursts of brillance. Trademark Line: Okay, if we could please just focus here peoples!  
  
Salina Putnam- In Marissa's words a textbook example of a dumb blonde. Even Eliza knows she's hopeless. Straight blonde hair to here shoulders, she is impractical and hates Marissa and Melinda. 5'1'' Grey eyes. Flirt to the extreme. Trademark Line: No way!  
  
Marianna Sanchez -Cheerful and slightly ditzy, she has light brown hair and dark brown eyes. 5'3'' She hates arguments, and is terrified of the Specters (Admit it, you would want to wet your pants if it got near you too) Trademark Line: Cool!  
  
Melinda Cassiopa- Fearless and impossible to stop, she has a bad habit of not thinking through things. (Including what she says) She gets into a lot of trouble at school for that, but is the best singer in the school. Looks like Mary Russell, the main character in her favorite book. Had leukemia when she was seven, but it went into remission. (May play a part in story later.) Houston, we have a problem.  
  
Sirens- Half bird, half human. Their songs lured men to their deaths in Greek mythology. But since only men went sailing in the area they supposedly lived, I get free reign on what they can do. Trademark Line: Die!  
  
Specters of Indifference- I don't have my copy of The Subtle Knife or The Amber Spyglass so don't yell at me if I get it wrong. Children of the Abyss, the walls between worlds, they are ghosts of sorts who eat Dust, which is Consciousness. Children are immune to them but I can't remember just why. I'll tell you after Christmas. Only the Subtle Knife can stop them, but it was destroyed and the pieces are in another world. Trademark Line: (Slurp.)  
  
On w/ the story!  
  
Marissa's POV  
  
"What are they?" I asked quietly. Half bird, half human, they had raven like feathers and were singing. The song was lovely, so lovely, and why was I struggling?  
  
"Isn't it ironic?"  
  
The lyric jolted through my mind. A plan formed in my head. I quickly shoved my headphones on and pushed play, desperately hanging to the branch and the thought. I turned up the volume and rummaged through Eliza's shoulder bag. I slipped the headphones on and pressed play. I repeated it to Mel, while Eliza got Marianna and Salina. Now what to do about the others in the clearing.  
  
"I have an idea," Eliza said. It was a great one.  
  
Eliza's POV  
  
The Plan was simple. Marianna, Salina, and I form a human chain and grab Marissa's violin, and bring it up. Melinda would sing at the top of her voice, and Marissa would play her violin. If it didn't work, we had Plan B. Salina would sing at the top of her voice.  
  
Obviously, I was hoping Plan A would work. I did NOT want to hear that awful voice again!  
  
The others agreed to the plan, and we set to work. The chain worked fine, and the violin was quickly brought up.  
  
Marissa's hand grabbed the bow and began, arm rapidly moving up and down. Melinda started singing clearly and loudly.  
  
"Give it all you got girl, give it all you got, you can take a chance, now take your best shot." 


	6. Meet and Greets

Chapter Six  
Quirks, Sirens, and Leukemia, Oh My!  
  
A/N: I FINALLY got Amber Spyglass! (Perks up) I finally got Lady Knight too! I have a mild case of writers block with this, so wait patiently for  
chapters. On with the story!  
  
Disclaimer: I own only Marissa, Eliza, the Frizz (sorta), Melinda, and Marianna. Oh, yeah I also own Salina.  
  
Marissa's POV  
  
The music, loud and if I do say so myself, perfect instantly broke the odd trance the other people were in.  
  
I ducked as a siren swooped and nearly snapped me in half. I called out curses, playing all the time. Suddenly it went in front of me. I surveyed it. Wings had apparently normal bone structure. Hollow, then. Easy to brake, too. A weight to the throat would stop a lot of it's power. Easy. I waited, then swung my bag as hard as I could. It hit the wing with a large crack! Another quick swing on the throat area, and left it breathless.  
  
I grinned and drew my violin case out, as well as my last textbook, A Study of Chemistry Basic and Complex. The Frizz could be so useful at times. A chinking sound perked my interest. A spare canister or two. In Mel's pocket. Yay, I know this reaction. After a quick whisper she threw the lead and silver nitrates at the last two sirens. The explosion was gratifying. Looking down, I noticed all of the specters were gone. I scrambled down the tree. This is almost too easy. Then I got really scared.  
  
"Mari!" Eliza never calls me that unless it's serious. As in, Mom's about to kill me because I tripped down the steps when she's practicing. For all the confused peoples, my mom's Carmen Ruiz (Charcoal). Yes, the famous ballerina. Please don't laugh. She's scary. You know Grandmere from the Princess Diaries books? Times her scary factor by ten.  
  
I spun around. A fourth siren was headed strait at me. (Deleted). I didn't take karate or anything, but Mom made me take ballet since I was three. I hate it, but I know the stuff. And I'm pretty good at it, so why don't I forget the violin and take up ballet only? That was my mom's point of view. My leg went up as high as it could, and I spun in a tight circle, wincing as my foot crashed into it. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!  
  
Mental Note: Never spin next to a tree. Me leg's defiantly broken. Darn, that stupid thing's barely gonna get a bruise!. (DELETED)!  
  
"ELIZABETH ANNEMARIE CHARCOAL GET DOWN HERE NOW!!!" I yelled. Ow, broken legs hurt!  
  
She jumped down gracefully as one of the arrows from the people hit the freaky thing.  
  
Eliza's POV  
  
The siren was dead. Marissa was not far from being knocked out. I had to do something.  
  
"Hello, my name's Eliza Charcoal, who are you? Where are we?" I asked politely.  
  
One girl, about sixteenish, smiled and said, "I'm Carrie. Why don't you know where you are? Where are you from?"  
  
" Well, we were in chemistry class, and -" I began.  
  
"Dingbat dumb blonde idiot caused an explosion that knocked us who knows where!" Marissa interrupted. Her leg was stuck out slightly.  
  
"She isn't that stupid," I said.  
  
"Yes she is!" Melinda broke in. "She caused TEN explosions or accidents THIS WEEK! And we only had five days!"  
  
"To answer your second question, we're from Tussiont, Pennsylvania, United States of America." I said. Seeing there puzzled faces, I asked again "Where are we?" Um, let's just say I was freaked out at the answer.  
  
"You're on the outskirts of the Royal Forest in Tortall." Carrie said gently.  
  
"Oh, (deleted), we're not in Kansas anymore, are we?" Melinda whispered.  
  
"Where's Kansas?"  
  
"It's an expression." Marianna explained.  
  
"How can we be sure?" One person asked. He was the first person Marissa had hit with her book. I rummaged in my pack. Hmm, First Test? No. Laptop? Yup.  
  
"Wait, I want to do something real quick," Marissa whispered. She concentrated. Nothing happened.  
  
"Just making sure this isn't a dream," she expained.  
  
"What did you try to do?" I muttered. An evil grin was my only answer. "Do I want to know?" Evil grin. "I'll take that as a no." I pulled out my turquoise laptop. Marissa pulled out her CD player, Salina did nothing, and Marianna sat down on a rock. Melinda looked dizzy.  
  
I hurriedly remembered that Marissa had her Alanis Morsette CD was in there. I grabbed the CD player and replaced it with my Jump5 CD, knowing that it would be a stupid idea to risk anyone listening to You Oughta Know. Marissa's CD player had a quirky sense of humor. The resume meant start at any spot.  
  
They seemed to be ok, so she said softly, "Um, excuse me, but can you, well I think Marissa's hurt pretty bad, but she's to stubborn to mention it."  
  
"I'm not stubborn, my leg hurts like (deleted), and I'm pretty sure it's broken." Marissa broke in. "Sorry I didn't mention it earlier, my names Marissa Charcoal. The idiot's Salina Putnam, and Marianna Sanchez is sitting, and Melinda is the one left. Yes, Eliza's my twin."  
  
A/N: I hope you like this! Review! 


	7. Help in many forms

A/N: Oh my god, I'm SO sorry about the wait. I was really busy. And this is so short. Yikes! Scheduling, girl, scheduling!  
  
Dis: I own what I own, and that's all that I own.  
  
Chapter I have no clue!  
We offer to help Marissa  
  
"But she doesn't look anything like you," Carrie pointed out.  
  
"It happens sometimes," I said cheerfully, grimacing at the painful jolts going up my leg.  
  
"Why did you try to kick that thing?" A girl about three years older asked me.  
  
"It works on everything from people to raging Dobermans," I explained, "I was just hitting in the wrong spot."  
  
"Well, lets get that leg looked at," A guy two years older said.  
  
I hobbled along with him and Carrie.  
  
Eliza  
  
"Why are Specters here?" I mused.  
  
"That's what I would like to know," commented someone behind me. I jumped.  
  
"Sorry if I scared you. My name's Numair Salmalin." My eyebrow shot up at that.  
  
"It's okay. How long have they been around?" I asked.  
  
"About two months." He responded. "You know a lot about these things?"  
  
"Enough." Okay, why was he asking me this? I just want to go home!  
  
"Would you like to come to the palace with us to help?"  
  
"Alright."  
  
Later that afternoon we left, Marissa shooting worried glances at Melinda. I wondered why. 


End file.
